KEEPING a bag of water in your freezer could help reduce your bills in an energy saving hack.
Millions of households face higher energy bills from today as Ofgem’s latest price cap takes effect.
Keeping a bag of ice or water in your freezer could help reduce your energy bills[/caption]
Millions of households face higher energy bills from today[/caption]
The average annual bill for those on a standard variable tariff paying by direct debit has increased by 2%, jumping £35.14 to £1,755 from July’s cap of £1,720.
This is based on an average household using 2,700 kWh of electricity and 11,500 kWh of gas annually.
Around 35million households are on standard variable tariffs, which are controlled by Ofgem‘s price cap.
It means average annual energy bills are now £500 more expensive than they were in October 2021.
Sam Whillance, savings expert at discounts platform Deal.Town, explained to the Express how Britons can save money while using these.
The expert claimed that keeping your freezer full helps keep your bills down because it stops the appliance from having to draw more energy to keep the compartment cold.
He said: “Most of the energy your freezer uses goes towards cooling down the air that comes in when you open the freezer door.
“So, when your freezer is full, there is less room for warmer air to come in, and the items that are in there will help to cool down any warmer air that does sneak in.”
The Energy Saving Trust confirmed this and a spokesperson said that “your fridge freezer works best when it’s three quarters full.”
But if you don’t have enough food to keep your freezer full don’t panic.
Sam recommends placing a bag of water on the middle shelf to take up some of the empty space.
He said: “If you do not have enough food inside the freezer to keep it full, using things such as plastic bags filled with water, ice blocks or even just bags of ice can help prevent warmer air from entering.”
If you don’t have a plastic bag to spare of your freezer has drawers that make it more difficult to place this – consider filling the freezer with plastic bottles of water.
But according to The Energy Saving Trust you should “avoid” over-filling overfilling the fridge as this will prevent the circulation of colder air.
And if your fridge is full of ice, you may find that it will add to already high energy bills.
Ice acts as an insulator which makes your fridge work harder, so it’ll cost more to run.
Common myths around energy consumption
Gwilym Snook, appliance expert at AO.com, quashed some commonly believed myths around appliances and energy consumption.
MYTH – Your fridge freezer is cheaper to run when empty
A commonly held belief is that your fridge freezer is more energy-efficient when it’s empty as there isn’t anything to cool. However, the reverse is true – Your fridge will operate most effectively when all its shelves are well-stocked.
MYTH – Washing your clothes at higher temperatures cleans them better
Most households across the UK wouldn’t trust to wash their clothes at 30°C as they wouldn’t believe it is an adequate temperature.
But in fact, 30°C is more than sufficient for most of your clothes and will significantly help to reduce your energy costs by up to 50 per cent when compared to a 40°C wash.
MYTH – Tumble dryers aren’t eco-friendly
Older models of tumble dryers were indeed energy guzzlers yet this myth that tumble dryers can’t be energy-efficient has been blown out of the water in recent years.
Enter the heat pump tumble dryer, a specially designed appliance that recycles warm air to dry your clothes at a much cheaper rate than their older counterparts.
Did you know that running this dryer will cost 63p a cycle on average? A small fee which can be reduced even further this winter by looking to dry your clothes between 10pm and 8am during off-peak electricity hours.
MYTH – Boiling water in your kettle is always energy-efficient
While kettles are energy-efficient appliances, did you know it’s easy to waste energy when bringing it to a boil accidentally? This can be done by filling your kettle to the brim every time you’re brewing up.
Instead, try to boil only the amount of water you need this winter. In the long run this small hack can help you save your money!
MYTH – Energy-efficient appliances don’t make a difference
It’s often believed that the A-G energy rating scale doesn’t make any difference to your overall energy consumption.
This isn’t the case. Energy-efficient appliances such as those with high A ratings can significantly reduce your energy bills when compared to older, less efficient models.
For example, replacing your old fridge-freezer with a newer energy-efficient one could save up to £100 a year on your electricity bills, which in the long run helps it pay for itself!
The Energy Saving Trust recommends “defrosting your fridge and freezer regularly to optimise performance.”
Standing charges – the daily fee households pay to access energy – have increased by 7p a day to provide support for an additional 2.1million low-income households under the scheme.
Ofgem said the latest price cap increase was also driven by higher electricity balancing costs, which are charged by network operators to keep the power supply stable.
These costs will add about £1.23 a month to the average household bill.
